The unification of the region’s biggest financial institutions is done and dusted, pending final validation.
Members from Greater Bank and Newcastle Permanent strongly voted in favour to merge on Wednesday 2 Newcastle – and create one of Australia’s leading customer-owned banks.
The amalgamation is expected to come into effect from 1 March 2023.
And, if the provisional results of the special general meetings are confirmed, it will see the formation of a combined entity with more than $20 billion in total assets and approximately 600,000 customers, benefiting from almost 200 years of combined operating history.
The Newcastle Greater Mutual Group Ltd will be led by a panel comprising four directors from the current Greater Bank and Newcastle Permanent boards.
Greater Bank chair Wayne Russell is set to assume the same role, while Newcastle Permanent CEO Bernadette Inglis takes on the position of Group CEO.
He said both leadership teams were buoyed by the voting turnout.
“Creating a financial powerhouse based here in the Hunter is an incredibly exciting prospect,” Mr Russell explained.
“I speak for each organisation when I say how proud we are that our members share our vision and voted a strong ‘yes’.
“Thank you to everyone who voted on the proposal.
“Bringing together our two brands under the one merged entity better positions us to compete with the major banks and deliver high value, competitive banking for our customers.
“Final validation of the votes is underway but we’re confident the provisional outcome will be confirmed – and the merger will proceed.”
Newcastle Permanent chair Jeff Eather reiterated the organisation’s commitment to customer-owned banking.
“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank our members who cast a vote at this important moment in our organisation’s history,” he said.
“The response has far exceeded our constitutional thresholds and we’re very encouraged by the provisional results.
“Both Newcastle Permanent and Greater Bank have long championed customer-owned banking.
“So, merging will enable us to secure its future here in regional NSW.
“The new organisation will have size and scale that we can leverage to grow our business over the longer term.
“We now have a strong springboard to take our way of banking to more Australians, while keeping skills and expertise, jobs and investment here.”
Both organisations will publish the results of the special general meetings on their respective websites.
Newcastle Permanent and Greater Bank made numerous commitments to members when proposing the merger, including that maintaining the branch network will remain a critical part of the new entity’s strategy moving forward.
Both brands will also be retained under the merged entity Newcastle Greater Mutual Group Ltd and there will be no change to customer bank accounts or banking details on merging.
For more news stories:
- ANZ branch closure a blow to Cessnock community: Suvaal
- Second man charged following $20 million Hunter cocaine haul
- Marine Rescue Lake Mac to benefit from $636,000 upgrade
Get all the latest Newcastle news, sport, real estate, entertainment, lifestyle and more delivered straight to your inbox with the Newcastle Weekly Daily Newsletter. Sign up here.
